Calling the Veterans: ABS Sensor or Faulty Bearing?
 

Hi guys,

Need assistance and would really appreciate the forum experts to chime in. Wheel bearing went bad so yesterday I replaced it. Upon replacement I have the trifecta, no messages or warnings otherwise.

Ive read the codes and im having:

- 5E22 - wheel speed sensor front left: line defect or short circuit
- 5E24 - wheel speed sensor front left: signal edge missing (RDF-Typ 11i)

I clear all the codes with INPA, engine off, and the lights do not shut off. Overnight, lights are permanently on. Its almost as if there is a short and the car knows something is wrong. The car knows the error is there before the engine is even started.

The car is driving absolutely fine on the street and highway. Are these symptoms of bad abs ring or could it indeed just be the sensor? I used a FAG bearing purchased from someone who says he bought the part from FCPeuro. I installed it with the larger black ring entering the hub first. I desperately do not want to go through the bearing replacement again.

Really appreciate any insight and thoughts. Thanks to all.

Did you pull the wheel sensor when you replaced the bearing? Sounds like a damaged sensor....

The bearing has one edge that has a larger chamfer on it - this is the edge that goes inwards (car-side).

https://www.fcpeuro.com/public/asset...02.?1496497832

My apologizes, I worded that poorly. Yes, the larger black ring/chamfer was pressed into the knuckle first. The hub was then pressed into the side with the smaller chamfer.

Did not remove the sensor at all. Looked at it again today through the wheel well, no signs of damage at all to the cable. Was I supposed to remove it? Thanks Wayne!

The codes suggest sensor / wiring / ABS brain. Given what you were doing, I'd probably lean towards sensor.

It's always a good idea to remove the sensors when doing a wheel bearing... in fact it seems impossible to drive the front wheel bearing out with the sensor in place - the tools used to remove the bearing would smash the end off the sensor... it sits down in the way of the bearing press coming in from behind, when you drive the old bearing out... :rolleyes:

*edit* found an image of the bearing and sensor relationship - and yeah, it would be pretty near impossible to remove the bearing with the sensor in place and NOT destroy the sensor.

https://i.ibb.co/YpJ01BW/img-2557-1.jpg

Could also be the ABS module itself. I would verify your signals with actually spinning the wheel with the car jacked up. See what the ABS module is reporting.

You could also try switching the sensor from left to right and so on to determine if the issue follows the sensor.

Wayne, as strange as it sounds, I really hope I destroyed the sensor! Did not notice it at all to be honest. Looks like it definitely protrudes quite a bit. Will pull it out and inspect, many thanks again!

I ran INPA while monitoring wheel speeds. The wheel I worked on showed zero wheel speed. I dont believe it could possibly be the ABS module. It has been absolutely fine before the wheel bearing change. I will switch around the sensors if I dont see anything obvious, thanks for the tip!

That's good you used INPA. But just to be clear, you were spinning the wheel while looking at those signals, right? When I had mine connected up, I had to REALLY spin the wheel fast enough for the signal to register, and because of how the front diff was on my vehicle, I would get the corresponding opposite wheel to spin in the other direction and the ABS register that speed as well.

Let us know what you find out!

- Actually best is to read INPA while driving low speed in your neighborhood (watch for kids etc.), all you need is 5-10 mph.

- I wrote my experience using INPA for my 1998 528i E39 below.
Brand for E39: BMW (expensive, VDO less expensive, Bremi least expensive and the best!).

- At this age/mileage, you may as well replace the wheel sensor.

DIY: TRAC-ABS Light (Solved, it was LF wheel sensor)
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/d...sensor.972897/